STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As opera singer Andrea Bocelli warbled over the sound system at Bocelli Restaurant in Grasmere, a ringing land-line continuously punctuated the melodies. Meanwhile, in Port Richmond around the same time Tuesday, Denino’s Restaurant saw a packed front dining room and four customers at the bar. While the lunch hour often can be a sleepy time for borough restaurants, business was lively at the two local establishments, recently called out by Zagat’s Survey on a roster of New York City’s top 100 restaurants.

“And, then you start to do the numbers — there are thousands of restaurants in New York City. To be a part of (the top 100), it’s just very, very prestigious,” said Ms. Buonsante.

“And, finally, Staten Island shines in all of this!” she said with a broad smile.

Chef Sena checked in food deliveries and said, “I’ve seen a lot of new faces — we’ve gotten lots of phone calls, lots of congratulations.” He continued, shaking his head, “We’re blessed.”

Matriarch Palma Denino received the news that her family's restaurant ranked number 64 on the list. Her son, Michael Burke, delivered the good word to her via phone last week while she was away in New Jersey.

“It was like, oh my God,” she said, stunned that the pizzeria kept company with the linen-cloth restaurants, some charging around $300 per head.

Writes Cash Kaschai of Orlando, Fla. on the Advance's web site, “I have had pizza all over the U.S. and Europe, never have I had better than Denino's. It is the first place I go when I hit New York. I have tried the other pizza joints in the area, but they don't come close. It is in the crust!” Kaschai cheered the Denino family adding, the pizzeria’s founder, Carlo Denino “would have been so proud!”

And, while the restaurant is normally busy throughout the day, it was unusually brisk this past week, presumably in the afterglow of the raving write-up.